There is disquiet at Kenyan Premier League (KPL) team Western Stima after the club cut April salaries by half.
Some of the players who spoke to Nation Sport in confidence for fear of reprisal said the 50 percent reduction came as a surprise to them, since it was not agreed on with the club’s management.
The Kenya Power and Lighting Company-sponsored team is staring at a biting financial crisis and Nation Sport understands that the team’s budget for the season is almost depleted. The club’s management in February hatched a plan to effect pay cuts.
The players said that they suggested a 10 percent reduction in pay, which they revised to 30 percent and wondered why the management has slashed their salaries by half.
"Everyone is unhappy with the move because no agreement was reached. We were for 30 percent," said a player at the club, adding that some of his aggrieved colleagues have since left the team’s WhatsApp group because of the development.
Another player said: "They (club’s management) ought to have informed us of the 50 percent reduction early, rather than keeping silent, only for players to learn about it at the bank. We would have planned well."
When reached for comment, Stima’s chairman Laban Jobita said: "That is an internal matter. I do not want to discuss anything."
The power men are seventh on the KPL standings on 36 points. Stima is the second team to effect pay cut after Kakamega Homeboyz.
On March 29, Homeboyz Chief Executive Officer Bernard Shitiabayi announced that the players had agreed a 50 per cent salary reduction, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Shitiabayi then said they effected pay cuts to the players after their sponsors, the county government of Kakamega, announced that its employees would take pay cut ranging from 10 to 30 percent depending on their job groups for the next three months.
The Kenya Footballers Welfare Association (Kefwa) has appealed to clubs to put first their players’ interests in every action that they take to remain afloat, as the pandemic continues to bite."The clubs should be very sensitive in every decision that they make now. All decisions should be a mutual agreement between the player and the club," Kefwa chairman James Situma told Nation Sport on April 9.
